Amarok is an open source and cross-platform project that provides users with a sophisticated and powerful music player software, specifically designed to be used under the popular and award winning KDE desktop environment.

The application features an iTunes-like graphical interface that allows users to quickly and easily drag and drop music files in order to listen to them and create playlists. It can store the music files in a built-in MySQL or SQLite database.

Built-in support for several widely used web services, including Last.fm, Magnatune, The Echo Nest, Ampache, MP3tunes, Jamendo, Librivox, and OPML Podcast Directory is also integrated into Amarok.

Under the hood and supported operating systems

Under the hood, we can report that the application is written entirely in the C++ programming language. The graphical interface is built with the Qt GUI toolkit, making the application portable on different operating systems.

Unfortunately, Amarok is deeply integrated in and has been specifically designed from the ground up for the KDE desktop environment. It is distributed with the KDE project, as its default music player application.

Bottom line

In conclusion, Amarok is one of the most appreciated music players on the open source ecosystem. It’s suitable for the KDE desktop, with which it integrates very well and lets users to import iTunes databases.

Amarok was reviewed by Marius Nestor, last updated on November 29th, 2014